Breech closure



D. F. ASBURY.

BREECH CLOSURE.

APPLscATIoN FILED ocT. so, 1918.

.31E/@Sway W y vw D. F. ASBURY.

BREECH cLosuRE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 30, 1918.

Patented Mar. 2l, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' provide means independent of both elastic-.

unirme STATES PATENT oEElcE.

DORSEY F. ASBURY, OF WSHINGTON, DISTRICT 0F COLUMBIA, ASSIGNO'R TO UNITED STATES ORDNAN CE COMPANY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Ay COI-'t-A IPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

BREECH CLOSURE.

Larnaca.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar.. 21, 1922.

c Application led October 30, 1918. Serial No. 260,339.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DoRsEY F. AsURY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech Closures; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which vit appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to breach closures and is particularly adapted for application to those breech closures whose opening and closing movements are affected automatically, yet certain elementary parts of my invention are applicable to those closures wherein the complete operation of opening and closing-is not effectedautomatically.

It is the object of my invention to provide means independent vof elasticity and resiliency for utilizing motion imparted to the breech closure by discharge of the gun to openand close the lbreech closure and thereby eliminate the use of spring elements of any kind as a positive actuating medium in the operation of automatically opening and closing the gun breech. It will be observed, however, that WhenI refer to imparting motion to a breach closure by discharge of the gun, it is my intention to include within the scope of suchexpression either a structure wherein the breech closing element proper, such as a breech bolt or screw block or wedge block, is so moved or a structure wherein some member operatively associated with the breech closing element proper is moved; my invention serving in either case to utilize such motion to open and close the breech closure independent of both elasticity and resiliency.

Further objects of my'invention are to ity and resiliency for utilizing energy due to discharge of the gun to open and close the breech closure; to provide means for automatically utilizing only kinetic energy to produce all operations of the breech closure; to provide a structure wherein only moving mass set in motion by the discharge of the gun is used to eifect the full operation of the breech closure; to provide means automatically utilizing moving mass to change opening movement of the breech closure to closing movement; to provide means independent of both elasticity and reil Il vide rotatable means for translatin of the breech closure to closing movement; to. I

provide means independent of both elasticity and resiliency for translating the energy stored in the opening breech closure to energy.l acting to close the breech closure; to provide rotatable means for automatically changin the opening movement of the breech c osure to closing movement; to prothe energy stored in the opening breech c osure to energy to close the breech closure; to provide means movable one way to change the opening movement of the breech closure to closing movement, and moving oppositely to effect the next change of breech closure opening movement to v closing movement; to provide means independent of both elasticity and resiliency for utilizing storedi energy resulting from the opening of the breech closure to retard said olosures opening movement as it nears full open position and then to arrest said opening movement; to provide means for translating stored energy resulting from opening of the breech closure to energy acting to close the breech l closure and operating to delay the closing movement; to provide movable means operating while moving to hold the breech closure in open position; to provide a cam device for translating stored energy resulting from opening of the breech closure to energy acting to close the breech closure; to provide a camdevice for translating energy stored in the opening breech closure to energy acting to close the breech closure; to provide a cam device for translating opening movement of the breech closure to closing movement; to provide a cam device for utilizing stored energy resulting from openingof the breech closure to initiate closing of thel breech closure; vto provide a longitudinally movable breech closure in combination with Y be had to the accompanyingV drawings In 'describing my invention reference 'will\ wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Fig. 1 is a vertical section of av breech closure embodying my invention, the closure being shown in its home or locked position;

Fig. 2, a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4, a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5, a horizontal section of.whati 1s shown in Fig. 1, looking down;

Fig. 6, a horizontal section of what 1s shown in Fig. 1 looking up;

Fig. 7, a bottom view of what is shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 8, a sectional view of a fragment of the breech bolt showing the combined extractor and ejector.

Referring to the drawings indicates a recoil mount andv 11 the gun arranged to slide in said mount during recoil and counter recoil, said gun being connected with a suitable recoil brake (not shown) by a rod 12 all as is well known. The gun 11 is provided at its rear end with a breech chamber 13 in which is mounted for reciprocation to open and closed positions a breech closure A. This closure comprises a bolt 14 having an intermediate reduced portion 15 on which is rotatably mounted a member 16 having locking lugs 17 cooperating with locking lugs 18 on the gun 11 to secure the closure in closed position, the lugs being disalined by rotation of the member to unlock the closure. Also provided on the member 16 is a handle 19 one purpose of which is to afford means for the manual operation of the breech closure when desired. Mounted on this handle 19 are outer and inner cam followers 20 and 21 for a purpose that will presently appear.

The mount 10 is provided with acut-away portion 23 o ening through its rear and having a part o the wall thereof shaped to forni a cam 24 with which the cam follower 2() is adapted to cooperate during recoil to impart rotative movement to the member 16. The gun 11 is provided with a slo-t 25 opening through its'rear and extending longi-r tudlnally of the gun except at its forward end where it curves laterally to form a cam y `reduced at 27 and rotatably'mounted on'said reduced portion is a translating member 28. This member I provide with a cam groove B the end portions 29 and 3() of which are substantially parallel and open through the rear end of the member to permit, during opening and closing of the breech closure, the entrance and exit of a cam follower' 31 mounted on the gun as will hereinafter appear. `The portions 29 and 30 of the groove B as they extend forward are curved away from each other to form cam surfaces 32 and 33, said groove being completed by a circumscribing portion 34. To hold the portions 29 and 30 of the groove B in workable alinement with the cam follower 31, except when the member 28 is rotating, I provide said member with longitudinal grooves 35 and 36 which are adapted to successively receive a longitudinal rib 37 carried by the gun and projecting into the breech chamber 13, said rib being disposed in the groove 35 to hold the portion 29 of the groove B in workable alinement with the cam follower 31 and in thel groove 36 to hold the portion being formed in and extending longitudinally of the gun. It willbe obvious upon reference to Fig. 5 that during the opening movement of'the bolt 14 the free end of the extractor 42 will be forced sharply toward the bolt and serve to eject the cartridge case through the opening 45 provided in the gun 11 to permit such ejection. It will be observed that the extractor 42 is constantly disposed in the groove 44 and thereby serves to hold the bolt 14 against axial rotation. The cartridges are fed to the gun by gravity or a spring from a magazine 46 provided on the mount` said cartridges being delivered from the magazine to the gun through an opening 47 in a manner that will be best understood from the description of the operation of the' breech closure which follows.

Assume that the gun is loaded and that a supply f cartridges is present in the magazine 46. With the vparts in the position shown inv the several views the charge `of the gun is fired through the medium of any desirable irin 14 and not il ustrated in this instancer as? such firing device'forms no part lof thein-f" vention. As soon as the gun sred the latter recoils. During such recoil no change,`

; in the positions of the parts offlthe breechv 28. Duringv the continued rotation ofthei closure with respect to the gun takes place until the cam follower 20 coacts with the cam 24. This coaction sharply rotatesthe member 16. and during this rotation'of said memberv the lugs 17 are moved out ofV alinementwith the lugs 18 and the cam follower 2l and thecam 26 coact to change therotative movement of the member 16 to longi` tudinal movementv andafter this change takes place the cam follower 21 ymoves to the rear in the slot 25.v .Likewise the entire breech closure moves tov the'rear under the inuence of the energy imparted thereto by the longitudinal movement of the member 16. As the translating member 28 moves to the rear the cam follower 31 enters the portion 29 of the groove B and eventually coacts with the cam 32 to rotate the member member 28 the cam follower moves through the circumscribing portion 34 of the groove B and then coacts with the cam 33,v such coaction serving to change the ,rotary moves ment of the member 28 to forward longitu-V dinal movement and such forward longitudinal movement is of course imparted to the entire breech closure, .the cam follower 31 finally leaving'groove B through ,the por-jl tion 30 and therib 37 enters the groove 36 to hold the member 28 against further rotation and to maintain the portion 30 of the groove B in workable alinementvwith the cam follower 31, for the next operation. As

the breech closure moves home the cam follower 21 again coacts with the cam 26y to impart locking rotation to the member 16. By noting the positionof the cam 43 it will be obvious that'the ejection of the empty cartridge casetakesplace before the opening 47 registers vwith theimagazine 46 and that when such registration takes place the device mounted` in the boltf B each successively constituting entrances and exits yfor the c am follower 31 with respect to successive operations of the breech closure. Furthermore, it will be observed vthatv the camsg32and33serve as means for retarding opening movement of the lbreech closureand such a construction can be utilized-'inaclosures in which the closing opera- `vtionjisnot effected automatically. Again,v .these cams 32 and r33 in connection with the circumscribing portion 34 serve as a means forntilizingener'gy of an opening breech closure .tof-arrest` the opening movement thereof andqsuch structure can readily'be' utilizedin 'breech closures which are not yfully automatic.` Again, the provision of the circumscribingportion 34 of the groove,

B serveszasa means for delaying the closing movement of the breech .closure and also serves `as a means of utilizing a moving element to hold the breech closure in open positionJLj/'The' interval of time between the completion of the' opening movement of the bolt andthe initiation of the closing movement can be increased 'pr decreased by lengthening'or shortening the circumscribing portion 34 of the groove B.' I- claim:V A

1. In` a gun, a breech closure movable '.bod-ilyto open` and closed positions, and

means operated by discharge to energize the v massief the'closure, said energized mass lreactingbodily against the gun to produce closure'.V 1,

2. In a gun, a breech closure movable bodily to open and closed positions, and means operated by discharge to energize the the opening and closing movements of the mass of the closure, said energized mass reacting bodily against the gun to change opening vIfnovement of the closure to closing movement.v

3. Ina gun7 a bodily movable breech closure, means operated by discharge vto initiate movement of the breech closure relatively to the gun, and means fixed relatively to the gun coacting only with the 'bodily moving mass of the breech'closure to complete the cycle of operation of said closure.

.4. .In a recoil gun,- a bodily longitudinally Vmovable breech closurey including rotatable members, and non-elastic means having portion'sghxed relatively to a recoiling part andnon-'recording part of the gun respectively 'and coacting with said members upon discharge of the gun to produce all movements of the breech closurerelative to the 1111. f g 5. In a gun, a breech closure, and rotatable means carried by the closure and reacting against the gun to automatically change the opening movement of the breech closure to closing movement.

6. In a gun, a breech closure, a rotatable member'carried by Vthe breech closure for to the gun and coacting with the cam on.

the closure to change opening movement thereof to closing movement.

9. In a n, a breech closure movable to open and c osed positions, cam elements on the gun having a xed relation thereto, and cam elements on the breech closure coacting respectively `under the influence of energy del-ivered from the closure with the cam elements on the gun to open and close the breech closure, and means for energizing the closure. l

10. In a gun, a breech closure, and means carried by the closure movable one way to change the opening movement of the'breech closure to closing movement, and moving oppositely to effect the next changepf breech closure opening movement to 'closing movement.

l1. In a gun, a breech closure, and a nonelastic movable member carried by the breech closure and operated by opening movement of the breech closure to translate said movement to closing movement.

12. In a gun, a longitudinally movable breech closure, and a non-elastic member carried by the breech closure and movable relatively thereto for translating the opening movement thereof to closing movement.

13. In a gun, a breech bolt, a rotatable member carried by the bolt for changing opening movement thereof to closing movement, and an anti-friction bearing between the bolt and member.

14. In a gun, a breech bolt, a rotatable member for opening the bolt, a second rotatable member for changing opening movement of the bolt to closing movement, and an anti-friction bearing between said members.

15. In a gun, a breech bolt, a rotatable member carried by the bolt for opening the latter, a second rotatable member carried by the bolt for changing opening movement thereof to closing movement, and an antifriction bearing between said members.

16. In a gun, a recoil mount, a longitudinally movable breech bolt, a rotatable unlocking member carried by the bolt, a cam device between the member and mount for rotating the member, and a second cam device between the member and gun for translating the unlocking movement of the member tomovement to open the bolt.

17. In a gun, a breech closure, a pair of cams, and al pair of cam followers coacting with the cams respectively and successively to unlock the breech closure andthen translate the unlocking movement thereof to openin movement.

l18. n a gun, a recoil mount, a breech closure, a cam on the mount, a cam on the gun,v and a pair of cam followers carried by the closure and coacting respectively and successively with the cam on the mount and the cam on the gun to unlock the breech closure and then translate the unlocking movement thereof to opening movement.

19. In a gun, a recoil mount, a breech closure having a rotatable locking member, a handle on said member, a cam on the mount, a cam on the gun, and a pair of cam followers mounted on said handle and coacting respectively and successively with the cam on the mount and the cam on the gun to impart unlocking rotation to the member and then translate said rotation to movement to open the breech closure.

20. In a gun, a breech closure having a rotatable locking member, a handle on said member, a pair of cams, and a pair of cam followers mounted on said handle and coacting respectively and successively with the cams to impart unlocking rotationto the member and then translate said rotation to movement to open the breech closure.

21. In a gun, a longitudinally movable breech bolt, a rotatable member carried by the bolt, and a Acam device between the member and gun for translating opening movement of the bolt to closing movement.

22. In a gun, a longitudinally movable breech bolt, a rotatable member carried by the bolt, vand a cam and cam follower one of which is on the gun and the other on the member, for translating opening movement of the bolt to closing movement.

23. In a gun, a longitudinally movable breech bolt, a rotatable member carried by the bolt, a cam on the member, and a cam follower on the gun coacting with the cam on the member to translate opening movement of the'bolt to closing movement.

24. In a recoil gun, a movable breech closure, means carried by the closure reacting directly against a recoiling part of the gun when said closure is .energized to open, close and lock the closure, and means for energizing the closure.

25. In a gun, a movable breech closure, means for producing relative movement of the closure to the gun to energize said closure, and means whereby said closure is thereafter removed solelyy by its own kinetic energy to produce its other movements relative to the gun.

26. vIn a gun, a, movable breech closure, In testimony whereof I afiix my signature means for producing relative movement of in the presence of two Witnesses.

the closure to the gun to energize said closure, and cam means operated thereafter DORSEY FYASBURY 5 solely by the energy initially stored in the Witnesses:

closure to produce the other movements of J. H. SIGGERS,

the closure relative to the gun. HENRY T. BRIGHT.

. I, Certicate er' Correction.

Itliuv'herehy certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,410,524, granted March 21, 1922, upon the application of Dorsey F. Asbury, of Washington, District of Columbie, for animprovement in Breeeh Closures, an error appears in the printed i specification requiring correction as follows: Page 4, line 126, claim 25, for the Word removed reed maved; and that the said Letters bPatent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent ce.

Sed and sealed this 17th day -of April, A. D., 1922.

Lening i KARL FENNING,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

